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Laird the hero again as LSU claims an 8-7 thriller to take the opener over Tennessee

mark_laird TENN 2 LSUSports.net.jpg

LSU right fielder Mark Laird celebrates as his 9th-inning single squirts through the Tennessee infield, allowing Jared Foster to score the game-winning run in an 8-7 Tigers victory at Alex Box Stadium.
(LSU Sports Information | LSUsports.net)

Mark Laird is getting used to this hero-role stuff. And LSU
doesn't mind if the sophomore stays there as long as he wants.

Thanks to more clutch hitting from the sophomore right fielder,
the No. 6-ranked Tigers claimed a wild-and-wooly 8-7 walk-off victory against Tennessee Friday
night at Alex Box Stadium in a nowhere-close-to-ordinary SEC series opener.

Laird hammered a full-count pitch from UT reliever Andrew Lee
through the middle with two outs in the bottom of the 9th inning to
score Jared Foster with the game-winning run.

That capped a comeback when the Tigers (32-10-1, 11-7-1 SEC)
scratched out single runs in each of their last three at-bats to overcome a 7-5
deficit, most of which Tennessee (25-15, 7-12) constructed against LSU ace
Aaron Nola.

In his shakiest start of the season, Nola allowed 8 hits and 5
runs -- a season-high -- in a 5.2 innings. After he left in the 6th
inning, reliever Zac Person was unable to stop the bleeding and gave up a
two-out, full-count, bases-loaded three-run double to pinch-hitter Derek Lance
that erased a 5-3 Tigers' lead.

"I
saw (Lee) pitch out and I was like 'Alright: Here we go again,' " said Laird,
who delivered a game-winner against Arkansas in a 5-4 LSU win on April 12 when
the Razorbacks' intentionally walked Sean McMullen to get to Laird.

"It's
just part of me. It just makes me want to get a hit even more. When I saw him
pitch around (Stevenson), I was just getting in a zone.

The strike zone was something Lee struggled to find. Laird got the count to 3-and-0, took a strike, just missed
punching a line drive fair down the left-field line and fouled off another
offering. Lee came back with a fast ball, and this time Laird jerked it right
back through the box to send Foster sprinting around for a slide into home
plate that set off a wild celebration in shallow right field.

"He
threw a fastball and it was pretty much right down the middle, so I just had to
barrel it up and I did and it went right up the middle," Laird said.

LSU had drawn even in the 8th inning with more two-out,
ice-in-the-veins production as the key.

Tennessee reliever Josh Peterson got the first two outs without
much of an issue before McMullen ripped a single through the left side on
the first pitch he got.

That brought up Jake Fraley, and on the second offering to the
Tigers' left fielder, McMullen swiped second base. Fraley fell behind 1-and-2,
worked the count back to full and then fouled off two pitches before pumping a
ball into the gap in left-center field, a double that sent McMullen scampering
home with the tying run.

"Fortunately
we swung the bat the equal of them (Friday), if not better," LSU coach Paul
Mainieri said. "We've been swinging the bats better.

"We
came up with some clutch ones. Fraley's hit in the 8th inning was
enormous, and then Laird coming through again with the walk-off hit after
having a bad at-bat the time before."

Tigers' closer Joe Broussard came out for the Tennessee 9th
inning and totally dominated three hitters, striking out all three and reaching
96 mph on the scoreboard radar gun.

That set the stage for the final drama and Laird was up to the
task. Again.

Tennessee, meanwhile, lost a sixth game in league play by 1-2 runs.

"Obviously we're disappointed," Vols coach Dave Serrano said. "Tough,
tough loss for this team. We did an outstanding job offensively against what I
believe is one of the best pitchers in the country.

"In this kind of environment, when you allow this kind of team
to get back in the game, they're going to take advantage of it."

The Vols had seized the chances Nola offered up and seemed on the way to an unlikely win.

For most of two seasons, Nola has been as close to automatic as
a pitcher can get in the SEC. Friday night was one the junior would like to
forget, though.

Handed a three-run lead after he wobbled through the first three
innings, Nola wandered back into trouble in the 5th inning when he set
the table for a huge Tennessee rally, culminating with Lance's two-out, full-count, bases-loaded
double.

Nathaniel Maggio got the Vols revving in the 6th
inning when he dribbled a slow roller to the left side that Ibarra scooped up
but couldn't uncork quickly enough. Nola got two outs, but couldn't retire
pesky Vols' leadoff hitter Will Maddox, who punched a base hit through the
middle for an RBI.

Nola had a chance to limit the damage there, but he walked A.J.
Simcox, and that was the end of his night. Person came on, surrendered an
infield single to Christin Stewart that loaded the bases and then the three-run
double to Lance, who nearly watched strike three go by.

Maddox lashed the first pitch of the night into right field for
a single and moved up to second base on Simcox's sacrifice bunt. Nola, the SEC
leader in ERA (0.88), was behind 1-0 two pitches later when Stewart dumped a
soft liner into center field to score Maddox.

Nola got ahead of UT cleanup hitter Nick Senzel 1-and-2 but then
began a trend of leaving pitches too fat, and this time Senzel hammered a
double off the right-field fence for a 2-0 Vols' lead.

The two runs were the first Nola has allowed in the 1st
inning this season and marked the first time in 71.2 innings of work he
had given up more than a run in one frame all year.

It could've gotten worse, but Nola gritted out the 1st
by striking out Taylor Smart and retiring Maggio on a tapper in front
of the plate.

Then in the 2nd inning, he got a huge assist from Moore, who gunned down Vincent Jackson trying to steal second. An inning later,
Nola wandered into trouble when he gave up a two-out single to Scott Price on
an 0-and-2 count and walked the bases full. He ended that threat by getting Tyler
Schultz to roll out to second base.

After flirting with an offensive breakout for three innings, the
Tigers finally erupted in the 4th inning in a blowout against
Mississippi State.

LSU second baseman Kramer Robertson connects on a double in the 4th inning to pull the Tigers even, 2-2.LSU Sports Information | LSUsports.net

LSU rattled Tennessee starter Peter Lenstrohm for five runs,
with six hits doing the damage -- four doubles and five with runners in scoring
position.

Fraley lit the fuse when he laced the first pitch Lenstrohm
offered up into left-center field for a double, and the Tigers' first leadoff
hit of the game. Conner Hale bunted him to third base and that was the last
easy at-bat Lenstrohm encountered the rest of the inning.

Moore yanked a two-base hit just inside the first-base
bag, Ibarra scorched a grounder up the middle that Simcox got to but
not in time, putting runners on the corners. After a mound visit from Serrano, Kramer Robertson stepped in and rifled the first
pitch he saw into the left-field corner for a double to plate Moore with the
tying run.

That brought up Stevenson, who had struck out and looked
bad doing so in the 1st inning. This time he worked the count to
2-and-2 and laced a shallow fly ball into center field, scoring two runs and
turning into a double when he never slowed down and dashed to second base.

Alex Bregman chopped the ball through the middle and just past
Simcox to score Stevenson with the fifth run of the inning.

The Tigers won the SEC series opener for the sixth time in seven
weekends, and couple with Alabama's 9-3 loss at South Carolina, moved into a
tie in the loss column in the West Division standings.